Automatically-variable gearing.



UITED" STATES PATET OFFICE.

i ARTHUR n; Mom, oi' "BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

To all whom t may concern.'

- lBe it known that I, ARTHUR R. l\ o i\uzo,.pafA citizenV of the United States, resldln'g atV Berkeley, in the county, of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automat1- cally-Variable Gearing, 'of which. the following is la specification.

The hereinafter described :invention re.- lates toV automatically variable friction speed mechanism, designed particularly for use on automobiles, 'but it maybe employed in connection with all Vdriving'mechanism when the load to be carried by the engine varies, and is particularly ada-ptedfOr use in transmission mechanism-where the power for operating the saine is derived from 1nternal combustion engines.

.The invention has for its principal obJect toprovide a frictional transmission mechanism, entirely automatic in its operations, for reducing the speed and proportionately 1ncreasing the power yfrom the' drive to the y driven members, without varying the speed of the engine of the motor vehicle, when the load for the engine becomes too great to be carried thereby when the transmission mechanism is at a given speed position, or

of performing the same function when the 30 too great a'per cent. for the power of the grade encounteredv by the automobile. is of engine when the transmission mechanism is in a. given speed position. lAnother object is to provide an automatically variable speed frictional transmission mechanism,'which will throw the drive and driven members into neutral position, when the load. for the engine or the grade up which it is to .be carried becomes too great for the power lof the engine when the transmission mechanism is in its lowest` speed yand capable of4 vertical movement, a fricposition.

The invention :consists of a drive shaft capable of being' elongatedfa-nd adapted to be rotated by any suitablepower, the outer end thereof niounted in an inclined bearing tionA drive disk'carried'by the. end of said shaft, a friction drivenV disk carried by al transyerse shaft and arranged at right angles to the face of saidA drive disk,

said driven disk being feathered to said #counter Vshaft and capable of horizontal movement over thefaceof said drive disk,

means under tension for normally retaining the center of said drive disk at a point AUroMA'HcALLY-VARIABLE GEARING.

'Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd May 11, 1915. r Application iled November -18, 1912. Serial No. 731,939. i I

objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed outy in the claims hereto appended; itbeing understood that-various changes in the form,

proportion, size and minor details of con-- struction, within the scope of the claims" Athe the invention.

To comprehend the invention reference should be had to the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein- Figure l is a top planview of my im- .may be resorted to without departing from pirl't or sacrificing any advantages of' proved device as mounted'on an automobile.

fframe, disclosing the drive and driven disks in their relative positions whenthe vehicle is being driven vforward at full speed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation disclosing the mechanism for automatically regulating thefposi'- tion of the. drive disk relative to the driven disk upon the elongation. of the drive shaft, the disks being in their relative positions when the vehicle is being `driven forward at full speed. Fig. Sis aside elevation of the drive and driven disks, the, relative positions of-,the disksbeing disclosed in a posi tion when the ,vehicle is being driven at fullspeed, in a reverse direction and the center of thedrlve disk isabove. the contacting points of the drive and driven disks. Fig. 4

is a detail view of the'inclined guide way' for the drive shaftr disclosed in full lines in a position when the vehicle'fis drivenl for-` ward and -in dotted lines when the vehicle is driven 1n areverse dlrectlcn. Fig. 5 1s a detail sectional view of the elongating' screw .positioned in the drive shaft. V

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral l designatesa suitable motor vehiclewframe, capable o f supporting the various partsv of my invention, and at vthe forward end of which is carried an engine 2, provided with an engine shaft 3, which is connected to a suitable vehicle drive'shaft Ll, by an internally spiral screwhreaded sleeve 5 which receives the screw-threadedend 6 of the vshaft LLand the two shafts are normallyr retained in their telescoped `poocition by the tension of coiled A30 movement over the face of the drive disk` springs 7 and 8,"secured at one end to a l collar i) surrounding the shaft 4, and 'fastened' at their opposite end`to a suitable :stationary support. The tension of the springs 7 and 8 is lsuch as to retain thetwo. shafts in a telescoped lposition until the ve-v hicle encounters a steep hill or is loaded to a y capacity too great for the engine.

The shaft llvlis provided adjacent thev screivfthreadedr end 6, with a universal joint 10 and secured tothe opposite end of` said shaft is ai circular drive disk 11 the face 1Q of vhich is adapted to contact with-the peripheral edge 13 of a driven disk 14, ar-

ranged at right" angles to the face of the drive disk '11, and carried 'by a counter [shaft 15, slidably mounted in arched guides 16 inthe frame 1,*and said shaftl is proj Cvided at itsA end with a' suitablejsprocket 17 20 which isv connected by a chainv 1.8 to a sprocket 19 mounted on a shaft 20supported beneath the frame 1 by brackets, and to said shaft Q0 is connected' another sprocket 22 around whiclrfextend a chain 23 connecte'd to a sprocket Q4, mounted' on the rear axle of the vehicle;

The counter shaft 15 is provided with a 'longitudinal slot 25 in which slides a key 2 6 carried bythe hub of'the driven disk '14 -and the driven'disk is limited in its the endsv of-fthe slot 25 which terminate at points opposite tothe edges of the The. driven disk''14 isv maintained' in engagement with the drive disk 11 by the springs 27 fastened at one end to the frame and at theirl opposite ends to collars 28 which are carriedA bythe counter shaft .15, and the ends of the shaft 15 are inaintained in parallel relation to the face of the drive disk 1.1i by the flexible equalizing connection 29 whichl extends around the pulleys 30 supported by the lframe. Pivotally-mot-iiteu, as at 31, on the frame 1 `adjacent the end of the drive shaft 4 are the curvedslottcdfguides 32, in which are adapted to slide `the. laterally extending arms 33 formed at the opposite sides of a collar 3ft rotatably mounted between the flanges 35 projecting outwardly from the drive shaft 4. The' direction of .inclination of the s'lots 32 may be regulatedby the arm 36 pivotally connected-to- -the frame of the slots,rand 'it will .be observedl that' by changingthevangle of the guide slots 32 that the position of the drive disk may be changed relative -to the driven disk, l'to operate the same in a reverse direction.

Assuming the parts to be in the position as disclosed in Fig-s. 1 and 2 of the drawings,

with the'horizontal diameter of the drive disk in 'a position slightly belowits conl .tact point with the driven fdisk, the engine running at high speed, the vehicle carrying its capacity is being propelled on high gear over a level surface and an up grade vis eng drive disk revolvingat its highest exert great torsion-at the expansl'le'joint on the drive shaft 4, causing the same to lengthen against' the' tension of` the ,sp

7 and 8 an the shaft in its lengthening cause the arms 33to slide in the slots $2,y

and in so doing will raise the drive disk Lupw'ardly until'the horizontal diameter therey Y of is slightly above the contacting points' ofthe drive and driven disks, a't which time theaction of the drive disk 11 ontliA driven disk 14 will force the driven'disk';

longitudinally of the counter shaft 15 in a direction toward the center ofthe drive'diskl 11, until the' driven( disk ,reachesv a point where the gear ratio between the drive andk driven disks is such'that thev tered may be ascended `As exerted by the,Y springs and. screw on drive sha-ft, the drive disk will' return .t0-`

de' encoun-` e'torque ex' erted by the driven disk on the drive becomes equal to, the' complementary to nel retarded in a i ward its original position tilljthe axes of the drive and driven disks coincide `and the g v said drive and driven dsksvwill remainin 'i that intemnediategearrelation 4while the' grade isbeing ascended. If the grade en vcountered is too steep to be ascended'by the vehicle when the drive'and driven disksare i in any forward speed relation, the drive disk will be elevatedv by the elongation of the drive shaft ,caused by the retarding action of. the driven disk, and the dljiyen disk will move longitudinally of` the :ollnter shaft until it reaches a point opposite the center .of the drive disk, and the'machine will come to a standstill. 1

It will be observed that thd'fraising and.

no y

lowering of the" drive disk 11 caused by the A elongation ofthe drive shaft, and the movement of the driven -disk longitudinally of the counter .shaft vis entirely l automatic and is grade encountered by the vehicle.

The drive and driven disks maybe t' .rownx L into reversing relation by reversing the dii rection ofthe inclineof the slots 32,v which.

will raise the horizontal axis of' the drive disk abovethe contacting, pointfo'f the .drive and driven disks andthe vehicle' will be` propelled in a reverse direction. When the' vehicle is being propelled in a reverse direction and a gra'de is encountered, the same, automaticl re disks will take place as when the machine is beingpropelled in a forward direction.

Having thus fully described my invention ation ofthe drive and `driven l in a III caused vby the load of the vehicle or the.l i

with drivemember and 'meansy for operai;!v

to-the'drivenmember, s Withfsaid drvfe'member :1nd operafged'there---f Bratableibyphefloa'dLenriedfby.sgfiiddriven 'fbjgfand ,means for.,automticalhlvarying 'l i' y therelaive speed positions of th e fdrivel and f driven members'in accord-moe vv-ipk tha-load 1 0- i Y l l i 11.111 a drivejmechanismithembinaq ingr theaile, a driven -jmemben'zisSooiated Within/drive member and meansffor operat-f@ the .speed position foi; the" '.drivenmemben I' OIT 'Hl'Dmati'ca-lly varyingthereletive speed);

with s'aid drive' member.Eindop'erteditheref by; and" means -for automatically; changing l the speed `position y offt'he driven' member@ relative tn thefdiive member; s aid'jnans bedriven member.

1- "the "fr driven member :sociat'ei vv-ith fthe l"10mi ,carried by the driven v-member.

" 811111@ drive nie/eh:misin,4 theleombinationj/f elativeipositions 'of "Chenxes o ff the-1g said' X "l In ia. drive" mechaj'nism,' the eo''mbin aftion i drive 'shafts whereby the; drive' Shaft 'is t.r'o-

- Winningen-np3 .y 

